FREE/BARGAIN - Mystery, Suspense, Thriller - 2014

[peachiekene]

Bargain

$2.99
Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

AmazonUS
Google

[AwfulWaffle]

Originally Posted by peachiekene

Bargain

$2.99
Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn



AmazonUS
Google

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta also $2.99

[AwfulWaffle]

Originally Posted by peachiekene

Bargain

$2.99
Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn



AmazonUS
Google

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta also $2.99

(at Google Play at least)

Crud, sorry. Double posted.

[peachiekene]

Originally Posted by AwfulWaffle

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta also $2.99

Link: https://play.google.com/store/books/...d=0GoiKqlaV8MC

Did a quick check and that appears to be only at Google (for now).

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ $1.99-$2.99 from Hachette's Grand Central Publishing imprint (non-couponable in Canada/US, linkage for the lot goes to Kobo but should be matched at the standard stores, may or may not also be discounted in other regions):

4 titles by Agatha & Macavity Award-winner Jeff Abbott (SYKM, Wikipedia):

• @ $1.99 each, all 3 novels in the Whit Mosley mystery/crime thriller series starring the eponymous Texas judge & coroner. Incidentally, all three of these have been finalists for either the Edgar, Anthony, or Barry Awards or combinations thereof, according to SYKM.
• @ $2.99, Trust Me, a standalone grad student vs conspiracy kidnapping thriller. SYKM has a review of this linked on their author bibliography page, if you're interested.

[bgalbrecht]

Originally Posted by peachiekene

Bargain

$2.99
Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn

I don't know if it's any good, but another book of hers, Dark Places, is also $2.99 at Amazon and Google Play.

I suspect it is a Google Play sale price matched at Amazon.

[ATDrake]

Free from the author via KDP Select @ Amazon:

Access to Power by Robert Ellis, a Washington D.C. political intrigue suspense thriller starring some kind of PR/media consultant guy vs. a mysterious killer, originally out from Kensington's Pinnacle imprint in 2001.

Three weeks before a crucial senatorial election, a man is gunned down execution-style in a D.C. office. Police are quick to call it a case of robbery gone bad, but Frank Miles suspects something far more sinister behind the murder of his business partner.

Washington's most feared image maker, Frank's ruthless media manipulation has earned him countless admirers...and just as many enemies. Now, for the first time in his life, Frank's met his match in a shadowy schemer as clever as himself--but far more lethal.

As the body count rises, Frank becomes the U.S. Attorney's chief suspect--and a cunning killer's next target. From the underground tunnels networking Capitol Hill to the dome high above, his race for the truth--and his life--will bring him face-to-face with power at its deadliest extremes--where winning isn't everything...it's the only thing.

With his debut novel, L.A. Times bestselling author Robert Ellis raises the stakes in a heart pounding thriller set in Washington that feels so inside and so twisted it reeks of the darkest truth.

Free again from the author via KDP Select @ Amazon:

Jazz Funeral by Edgar Award-winning author Julie Smith (SYKM, Wikipedia), 3rd in her quirkily humorous Skip Langdon series starring the eponymous New Orleans homicide detective (the one which won the Edgar, incidentally), originally out from Ballantine in 1993.

EVERYBODY LOVED EASYGOING HAM BROCATO, PRODUCER OF THE FAMED NEW ORLEANS JAZZFEST. SO HOW DID HE END UP STABBED TO DEATH ON HIS KITCHEN FLOOR?

New Orleans Homicide Detective Skip Langdon just happens to be on hand when Ham’s body is discovered in the middle of his own party the evening before the Fest. To complicate the already murky case, the victim's sixteen-year-old blues musician sister has disappeared, and Skip suspects that if the young woman isn't the murderer, she's in mortal danger from the person who is. So Task One is finding Melody, ambitious, unhappy at home, and determined to break from her family.

As she probes the victim's tangled relationships, Skip finds a Southern family to rival any in Tennessee Williams, including Ham's live-in lover, feisty and swiftly rising star Ti-Belle Thiebaud; his father George, enmeshed with family members in a bitter disagreement over the family's lucrative Po' Boy chain; and Patty, his distraught stepmother.

In this tale of southern kinships gone awry, she's assisted by her long-distance love, Steve Steinman, and her gay landlord, Jimmy Dee. Meanwhile, Melody's dangerous yet exhilarating journey tugs at the heart and raises the pulse rate.

Free from the author via KDP Select @ Amazon (linkage for the lot):

The Trade & Lacking Virtues by Thomas Kirkwood, who has been published by Dutton and Macmillan. These are newly-written geopolitical Cold War-influenced espionage/crime action suspense thrillers, but if you've enjoyed his previous trad-published thrillers which were previously freebied, you might perhaps like to give these a try.

The Svalbard Passage co-written with Geir Finne, their US & Norway-set Cold War international incident geopolitical intrigue/suspense thriller with romantic elements, originally out from Macmillan in 1981, is free again as well if you missed it earlier.

The mysterious deaths of an international expedition of ice climbers on the remote face of the Spitsbergen glacier triggers what may be the first pre-emptive U.S. nuclear strike against the Soviet Union. The chain of events that follow moves swiftly and brilliantly from cosmopolitan, placid Oslo to the war-game rooms of the Pentagon and reaches a terrifying climax on the icy wastes of Spitsbergen, above the northern coast of Norway-and the Svalbard Passage.

Caught in a terrifying net of brinksmanship are a worldly, elegant Norwegian diplomat; a fiery and beautiful German journalist; an uncommitted American pacifist; a ruthless CIA agent; and an equally ruthless Russian, a pawn of the KGB. Unknowingly, acting out of their private compulsions, they bring the world to the edge of global disaster. Through the weave of this richly atmospheric novel of suspense runs the stormy, sensual love story of Martin and Ulrike, lovers who come to maturity in the face of annihilation.

[ATDrake]

Free again from the author via KDP Select @ Amazon:

Cold Fear by Canadian author Rick Mofina (SYKM, Wikipedia), 2nd in his Reed & Sydowski series of crime thrillers starring a crime reporter and a homicide detective in San Francisco, originally out from Kensington's Pinnacle imprint in 2001.

This was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel in 2002 (our top national mystery/crime prize, equivalent to the Edgar Awards), according to SYKM.

In the remote, rugged corner of Montana’s Glacier National Park known as the Devil’s Grasp, little Paige Baker of San Francisco disappears with her dog, Kobee, while on a camping trip with her family; or so her mother and father have told authorities.

A multi-agency task force launches a massive search as Paige fights to survive in the wilderness. Time hammers against her and soon the nation is gripped by the life-and-death drama.

Secretly, behind the scenes, the FBI grows suspicious of Paige’s parents. Their recent history and disturbing evidence links them to a horrible secret from the past.

Free from the authors via KDP Select @ Amazon:

Loyalty by Loretta Jackson (SYKM) and Vickie Britton (SYKM), a mystery short tying into their Whiskey Creek Press-published High Country series set in Wyoming.

When Sheriff Jeff McQuede responds to a complaint about a howling dog, he finds a stubborn, abandoned mutt who refuses to budge from the spot where his owner has dumped him. He soon ties the lost dog to a recent robbery at Ganion’s Service Station, and hopes the incorrigible mutt will lead him to the thief.

[GA Russell]

The Harker File - Marc Olden - 99 cents
http://www.amazon.com/Harker-File-Fi...he+harker+file

[mitford13]

Michael Connelly's (very) new release just dropped to $3.99 on Amazon:

The Burning Room

http://smile.amazon.com/Burning-Room...dp/B00IJJUIMY/

[sufue]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Bargain @ $1.99-$2.99 from Hachette's Grand Central Publishing imprint (non-couponable in Canada/US, linkage for the lot goes to Kobo but should be matched at the standard stores, may or may not also be discounted in other regions):

4 titles by Agatha & Macavity Award-winner Jeff Abbott (SYKM, Wikipedia):

• @ $1.99 each, all 3 novels in the Whit Mosley mystery/crime thriller series starring the eponymous Texas judge & coroner. Incidentally, all three of these have been finalists for either the Edgar, Anthony, or Barry Awards or combinations thereof, according to SYKM.
• @ $2.99, Trust Me, a standalone grad student vs conspiracy kidnapping thriller. SYKM has a review of this linked on their author bibliography page, if you're interested.

I haven't read these, but I read and liked Abbott's Jordan Poteet series back in DTB days, so these seem like worth a try. And it's unusual to find reasonable backlist prices from a major publisher - maybe if they actually see more sales at this price point, they'll do it with more backlist. (Of course, I've been hoping that for years, and they don't seem to have figured it out...)

UPDATE: I just bought the four, and these appear to be my first kePubs, or at least the download buttons are missing, and are missing even after signing out and back in, which has fixed that problem for me once or twice. And I think, although I haven't had this happen before, that that's the sign of a kePub? SIGH! I've been avoiding paying attention to this and now it looks as if I may have to. (Any advice or link to a definitive post via PM would be much appreciated!)

[ATDrake]

Free from the author('s republishing consortium) via KDP Select @ Amazon:

Lucky Man by Tony Dunbar (SYKM), 6th in his Tubby Dubonnet series of humorous mysteries set in New Orleans, from which we've previously received others in the series free. This originally came out from Dell in 1999 and was a finalist for both the Edgar and Anthony Awards for Best Paperback Original, according to SYKM.

WHEN THE DA HIMSELF SETS YOU UP, YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING DOWN…

In Tony Dunbar’s books, New Orleans is The Big Sleazy squared. No one is safe, especially from their elected officials. Even if they are an elected official.

So what if Judge Hughes shared a few special moments with Sultana Patel—why is this a matter of public interest? “The stench from that courthouse fills the city,” roars D.A. Marcus Dementhe. “Those hypocritical men and women who wear the robes are filthy with deception.” And Dementhe has a zany plan to snare them.

Hughes, happily, has had the good sense to hire epicurean lawyer Tubby Dubonnet, whose laconic air is belied by his zeal to protect his clients. And what a web they’re ensnared in! But no matter how dire things get, Dunbar never loses his sense of humor:

"I think he's going to shoot us once we're out in the Gulf," Tubby whispered to the girl.
“His aura is green,” she agreed.

Half the fun of a Tubby Dubonnet book is watching his sly creator fit together a plethora of fascinating yet seemingly unrelated jigsaw pieces to form a picture you never saw coming. And the other half is hanging out with Tubby and his crew of eccentrics, sleazeballs, goofballs, and enticing, confusing babes in the Big Easy-to-Love.

WHO WILL LIKE IT: Fans of Tremé, softshell crab po’ boys, Domilise’s, the Upperline Restaurant…wait, let’s start over—ok, legal mysteries, particularly Parnell Hall’s Steve Winslow series and anything by Lia Matera, comic mysteries, Elmore Leonard, funny lawyer movies like My Cousin Vinny, TV shows like Ally McBeal and Night Court; and everyone’s favorite New Orleans yarn, Confederacy of Dunces.

[sufue]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Free from the author('s republishing consortium) via KDP Select @ Amazon:

Lucky Man by Tony Dunbar (SYKM), 6th in his Tubby Dubonnet series of humorous mysteries set in New Orleans, from which we've previously received others in the series free. This originally came out from Dell in 1999 and was a finalist for both the Edgar and Anthony Awards for Best Paperback Original, according to SYKM.

Spoiler:

WHEN THE DA HIMSELF SETS YOU UP, YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING DOWN…

In Tony Dunbar’s books, New Orleans is The Big Sleazy squared. No one is safe, especially from their elected officials. Even if they are an elected official.

So what if Judge Hughes shared a few special moments with Sultana Patel—why is this a matter of public interest? “The stench from that courthouse fills the city,” roars D.A. Marcus Dementhe. “Those hypocritical men and women who wear the robes are filthy with deception.” And Dementhe has a zany plan to snare them.

Hughes, happily, has had the good sense to hire epicurean lawyer Tubby Dubonnet, whose laconic air is belied by his zeal to protect his clients. And what a web they’re ensnared in! But no matter how dire things get, Dunbar never loses his sense of humor:

"I think he's going to shoot us once we're out in the Gulf," Tubby whispered to the girl.
“His aura is green,” she agreed.

Half the fun of a Tubby Dubonnet book is watching his sly creator fit together a plethora of fascinating yet seemingly unrelated jigsaw pieces to form a picture you never saw coming. And the other half is hanging out with Tubby and his crew of eccentrics, sleazeballs, goofballs, and enticing, confusing babes in the Big Easy-to-Love.

WHO WILL LIKE IT: Fans of Tremé, softshell crab po’ boys, Domilise’s, the Upperline Restaurant…wait, let’s start over—ok, legal mysteries, particularly Parnell Hall’s Steve Winslow series and anything by Lia Matera, comic mysteries, Elmore Leonard, funny lawyer movies like My Cousin Vinny, TV shows like Ally McBeal and Night Court; and everyone’s favorite New Orleans yarn, Confederacy of Dunces.

And Shelter From The Storm, the fourth in the same series, is a US Kindle Countdown deal for 6 1/2 more days, at $0.99 before returning to $2.99.

link: http://www.amazon.com/Shelter-Storm-.../dp/B00EFIOGW6
blurb:

Spoiler:

The FOURTH sly adventure in the Tubby Dubonnet Series, Tony Dunbar's witty yet hard-boiled foodie-noir mysteries.

“Nothing… will have prepared you for Dunbar’s uniquely laid-back approach to natural disaster… Just enough nefarious plotting to punch up the drolly understated tableaux till you can’t help laughing, and just enough menace to make you feel you aren’t really missing anything by picking Tubby over the special-effects spectaculars at the local flick.” -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“By far the best of a very good collection.” -Book Page

“Slick prose, upbeat characters, and the particular wonders of the French Quarter will commend this to any Skip Langdon or David Robicheaux fan.” -Library Journal

THE SEAMIER SIDE OF THE CRESCENT CITY...

To out-of-town kingpin Willie LaRue, Mardi Gras seems the perfect time for a New Orleans heist – nobody, but nobody will be thinking about a single other thing. Parties, parades, chaos, alcohol – who could be concerned about a little thing like a bank job? Indeed, all might have gone well except for an out-of-season frog-flogger that threatens to flood the French Quarter – something even Hurricane Katrina couldn't do.

Next thing you know the survivors – thieves and revelers alike – find themselves marooned together. As the LaRue gang plans its watery escape, raffish lawyer Tubby Dubonnet is obliged to take time out from his customary eating and loafing to thwart their murderous intentions. The body count rises as the tempest subsides, and Tubby finds himself fighting not only for his life, but (it seems to him) the very city itself.

A wry, compelling tale of The City That Care Forgot.

“By showing the damage that several days of hard rain could cause to the city’s fragile ecosystem, Dunbar makes the reader really care about its fate. He does the same for Tubby, a lazy, corner-cutting, slightly shabby, occasionally reckless but totally decent man.” -Chicago Tribune

[sufue]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Free from the author('s republishing consortium) via KDP Select @ Amazon:

Death Will Get You Sober by Agatha & Derringer Award-nominee Elizabeth Zelvin (SYKM), 1st in her Bruce Kohler mystery series set in New York, starring the eponymous recovering alcoholic, originally out from Minotaur in 2008.

Spoiler:

SOBRIETY’S NOT FOR SISSIES. ESPECIALLY WHEN THE PHRASE “DEAD DRUNK” BECOMES LITERAL.

On Christmas Day, Bruce Kohler wakes up in detox on the Bowery in New York City. He realizes it’s time to change his life, but how can he stay sober without dying of boredom? Then homeless alcoholics begin to turn up dead, and one of these is Bruce’s friend Godfrey, a cynical aristocrat with a trust fund and some secrets.

Two old friends give Bruce a second chance and agree to help him with his investigation: his best friend, Jimmy, a computer genius and history buff who’s been in AA for years, and Jimmy’s girl friend Barbara, a counselor who sometimes crosses the line between helping and codependency.

Pretty soon, the suspects are piling up. Along with the laughs. But, witty as she is, Zelvin never loses her compassion for the painful process of recovery.

Fans of Parnell Hall and Tony Dunbar who enjoy a (virgin) cocktail of excellent writing, sly wit, and classic mystery will get a kick out of Bruce’s antics.

And the third in this series, Death Will Extend Your Vacation, is a US Kindle Countdown Deal for about 8 more hours, at $0.99, before going up to $1.99.

link:http://www.amazon.com/Death-Will-Ext.../dp/B00E8QTU26
blurb:

Spoiler:

The THIRD Book In The Bruce Kohler Series

“A perfect vacation book! Full of heart, full of humor—this honest and believable mystery put its straight-talking characters into a page-turner of a plot. Suspense plus insight plus compassion—equals a great read!” -Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Winner

“The Hamptons plus a juicy murder, with the added twist of addiction and recovery—what more could the intelligent reader want?” –Carolyn Hart, Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Honoree

THE ULTIMATE BEACH READ—SECRETS, LIES, SUNBURN, AND MURDER!

A clean and sober group house might not be everyone's idea of a dream vacation in the Hamptons, but the aptly named Deadhampton seems just about perfect for recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler, his main man Jimmy, and BFF Barbara the World-Class co-dependent. (Meaning she simply cannot mind her own business.)

Even the neighbors seem kindred spirits. Down the road's a big house in the dunes owned by a clean and sober playboy with a motley crew of house guests in recovery from drug, love, and sex addictions, compulsive overeating, bulimia, and anorexia, not to mention good old-fashioned alcoholism.

BUT SOMEONE'S NOT ABSTAINING FROM MURDER...

All goes swimmingly, so to speak, until Deadhampton lives up to its name in more ways than one way when the tide washes in the body of Clea, the trio's beautiful housemate . "Murder?" say the cops. " Piffle! You people are seeing pink elephants."

But Clea was an investigative journalist whose passions included environmental issues and men—lots of men. Our intrepid three aren't about to let this one go. So who needs the old addictions? Secrets, lies, and danger are the new sex, booze, and drugs!

"Interesting characters, a complex mystery with twists and turns, and a summer on the beach to remember ... Another solidly good one from the talented Elizabeth Zelvin." -Kevin Tipple on Kevin's Corner

"Zelvin brings [her characters] to life. A good plot, and action to keep readers glued to the pages. Good reading for the summer or anytime." -Mysterical-E

"Zelvin has mastered the male voice in a series that doesn't shy away from serious interpersonal issues. She has a natural ear for efficiently melodic prose." -Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

"The relationships between the three friends are as complex as they are fascinating. A credible and extremely interesting glimpse into the lives of the addicted." -Cindy Chow on DorothyL

[sufue]

The second and fourth books in Shelley Singer's Jake Samson & Rosie Vicente series are on sale - one free, and one part of the US Kindle Countdown Deal.

Free Draw is the second in the series, and it's free - not sure for how long.

link:http://www.amazon.com/Free-Samson-Ro.../dp/B00GMUQ1A0
blurb:

Spoiler:

The SECOND laid-back, cozy mystery in the Jake Samson and Rosie Vicente detective series.

“... surprising twists, and sharp-edged humor...” -Publishers Weekly

A Nice Jewish Boy, His Lesbian BFF, and MURDER MOST MARIN...

Unafraid, unlicensed, and, in this case, unpaid, unofficial Bay Area P.I. Jake Samson and his carpenter sidekick Rosie set out to clear a friend of a murder charge. The victim is found stabbed to death in a damp redwood canyon in woodsy, wealthy Marin County, outside San Francisco. It's up to Jake and Rosie to find the real killer, and they've got a number of suspects: the victim's fellow executives at a questionable correspondence school, his divided and bitter family, and his quirky Marin County neighbors--a truly odd assortment of California woods dwellers.

But the real treats here are Singer's dry humor and her characters: Jake, a nice Jewish boy with a rebellious--and very witty--streak; and Rosie, an irresistible twist on the sassy gay friend. Readers will love their easy, breezy relationship, and wish they had a friend like either one of them.


"...one of the nicer guys in the private eye business, who operates in a relaxed, casual style without need for macho posturing.” -Washington Post

“Jake remains his loyal, intelligent and quirky self, which is plenty to rejoice about.” -Contra Costa Times

“Ms. Singer is one of only three or four authors that I wouldn't miss whatever she wrote. “ -Over My Dead Body

Spit in the Ocean is the fourth in the series, at $0.99 for a day and a few hours more, before going up to $1.99.

link: http://www.amazon.com/Spit-Ocean-Lai.../dp/B00I6JM302
blurb:

Spoiler:

The FOURTH lively adventure in the Jake Samson and Rosie Vicente mystery series.

“Jake Samson is sensitive and funny, a little wise, a little wary and pretty wonderful.” -Publishers Weekly

IT WAS A JOB THE BARROW GANG MIGHT HAVE ENVIED…

The vault emptied out, not a shot fired. In fact, it resembled a burglary more than a bank job, but when you rob a sperm bank, that’s sometimes all it takes. Here’s the set-up: The North Coast Sperm Bank in tiny Wheeler, California has been knocked over, and the perp’s tossed its assets in the ocean, leaving a religious-nut note of explanation. Just a prank, says Wheeler law enforcement. But the bank says: Not so fast, that stuff was valuable!

Enter P.I. Jake Samson and his ever-sharp Watson, Rosie Vicente, hired by the bank to find out who made the unauthorized withdrawal. No sooner have they dragged their bedraggled Bay Area selves into the storm even now brutalizing Wheeler than a bank employee slips in the mud and falls to her death.

And Singer’s got more up her sleeve. Every time you turn around you learn more about Wheeler and its fascinating Northern California crazies…ummm.. we mean inhabitants! Did we say crazies? We meant very fun, fascinating people. They're a kick! As is this complex puzzle mystery.

Who will like it: Fans of laid-back detectives, more in the Columbo than Jack Reacher mode, like Parnell Hall’s Stanley Hastings, Julie Smith’s Paul Mcdonald, or Tony Dunbar’s Tubby Dubonnet.

“...one of the nicer guys in the private eye business, who operates in a relaxed, casual style without need for macho posturing.” -Washington Post

“A well-plotted and lively story.” -Mystery Scene